UPDATE: RSP delay DCO application to consult more

RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP), the company planning to return aviation to Manston Airport by means of a development consent order (DCO) have announced they will delay their application to allow for more consultation to take place.

RSP is to give the public a further chance to comment on its proposals to reopen Manston Airport as a cargo-based hub, before making an application to the Secretary of State for Transport for a Development Consent Order in the New Year.

George Yerrall said:

“We have been busy considering the 2,200 responses received to the consultation that took place in June and July 2017, which followed the non-statutory consultation in June 2016, and at the same time our plans have undergone further development. We are also taking the opportunity to update our environmental assessment in line with the latest EU Directive, in respect of which we will also welcome comments.”

The consultation document will set out:

a proposed noise mitigation plan – namely the specific commitments they propose to make to minimise aircraft noise impacts;

the new areas of environmental assessment and where these can be found in the updated preliminary environmental information; and

the details of where the plans have become more developed since the consultation in June/July 2017.

Responses will be particularly sought on all these matters, but all previous responses will continue to be considered and new responses can be made on any aspect of the project.

RSP plan to hold another round of consultation events in Ramsgate and Herne Bay during January 2018, but anyone is welcome to respond to the consultation whether they attend an event or not. Further consultation events will be held later in 2018 as part of the air space change proposal that RSP will be submitting to the CAA.

The MP for Thanet North, Sir Roger Gale, said:

“It is important, I think, that those opposed to the re-opening of Manston Airport are given every opportunity to appreciate the difference between the environmental impact assessments carried out by RiverOak and what I believe to be the cavalier attitude towards the environmental damage that would be caused by a massive housing and industrial estate proposed by others.

More haste can sometimes lead to less speed and it is essential that genuine, if misplaced, concerns are, insofar as is possible, allayed.”

UPDATE (07/12/17):

Following the recent announcement that RiverOak Strategic Partners will be offering the public an opportunity to comment on its now fully-developed proposals for Manston Airport, prior to submitting the Development Consent Order application, RSP can now confirm the dates and venues for consultation events will be as follows: